or we can choose progress over politics and build of the extraordinary common ground that has been forged and too hard work needed to finally pass the health insurance reform the american people deserve. and i can guarantee you when we pass this bill, read will not -- history will not record debates, but the hard work done by the members of congress who passed the bill and the people who sent us here to washington insisted upon a change. that is the work we have come here to do and i look forward. echoing a lot of things that he said about health care, health insurance reform on the campaign trail, saying he wants congress to get this done. this came a moment before the president started speaking. steny hoyer came out and said

the august deadline may not happen. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- by the way, welcome to the show. when you talk about the brass tacks of how to get it done, how much it will cost, whether a bill will go anywhere, the president addressed none of those famous. trace: it would come on the heels of a major speech given by the house energy committee. they were writing the bill, going line by line and rejecting or accepting the amendments. today they said we are putting this on hold and they have no idea of the time line. it is on hold indefinitely as they do not believe they have the votes in committee. that means that they do not have the votes in the house, right, mike emanuel? >> that is right.

you just heard the president speak about health care reform. he is talking about where he sees the agreement on issues. much of the news coverage right now is focused on where he is seeing push back. steny hoyer says he does not believe that it will be done by the end of the month. now the president was to come out and say these are ways that we can go forward from here, trying to show that there is some agreement here when people say that there is winning support for his reform. the president is pushing back and tomorrow night he will be doing another prime-time news conference, continuing to bring home his message about health care reform. the question is whether or not it will happen. martha: i want to talk about the white house strategy at this point. we saw the president come out today. there is another news conference

tomorrow. i believe there is a town hall after that. what are you hearing about white house strategy? what we heard right now was similar to the campaign in terms of the reason for wanting to fix health care, but very little on where things stand, and how things are going to happen. >> you are right, and they feel that the president is their most effective weapon when it comes to selling this to the american public and getting things done as quickly as possible. yesterday he was at a children's hospital, today, in the rose bertin. he will continue to try to sell this, hoping to gain more support. people like mitch mcconnell say we need health care reform, but what kind are we going to deliver? there is a lot of disagreement on that.

martha: he said at one point, if you want to delay this until special interest kills it, that is basically your problem. he has also been spending some time focusing on insurance companies. this is something that everyone could get behind. that seems to be bending a bit of a dialogue on this as well. thank you. trace: health care is the big story of the day but we are also watching other breaking news. in the top box, the white house is in danger of missing another deadline, the closing of guantanamo. there is still no plan on where to send terrorist suspects. key reports have also now been delayed. in the middle box, extremely controversial videotape coming to light, showing a police officer grabbing a woman by the neck, putting a gun to her head, but she did not break ala.

we will let you decide if the officer this out of line. and a man on a southwest airlines flight felt something called up his leg, a scorpion, and it bit him. you will hear that story. martha: he said that it was like they were falling from above. back to our top story. the president is also meeting with democrats on the house energy and commerce committee. some of them have been jumping ship on the reform plan. the committee postponed their markup session, which trace was talking about moments ago. this is when everybody sits down and look at what they like and what they do not like in the bill. blue dog democrats are getting a lot of heat right now at home,

and they do not want to sign off on anything that may jeopardize their next election. >> one of the objectives here has to be to reduce cost for the american people. legislation floating around right now does not do that. that is why many of us are suggesting to slow this down, but the senate do its work and see if they can come up with something bipartisan. martha: with me now is a south carolina congressman jim cliburn. what is your perspective on this? any chance that something will be passed by the august recess, as the president has said he wants? >> there is a chance. i happen to believe we are all working together to figure out how to get to the finish line. everyone wants health care

reform. everyone needs to know that it must be done. we know what the last nine years have done. we know what the system is all about. it is a high-quality system that we want. we just want to make it affordable and accessible for everybody. we want to build upon a great system. we just have some differences of opinion on how best to do it. martha: i am sure you are right about that. a lot of people believe that there needs to be changes, but at the same time, many people are currently happy with their plan. the biggest issue is who is going to pay for it. i am hearing you are not in favor of this surtax on the wealthy. >> i have already said and i

will say again, there is enough savings that can be gotten from the system as it currently is in order to fund this. the problem is, the cbo will not score a lot of those savings. in order for us to write a bill, we have to take into account that failure on the cbo. we need to put together a bill with those elements in it, put in a trigger mechanism in case that surcharge is enacted -- martha: excuse me for interrupting. i want to make sure everyone understands. you believe there is an us cost savings out there. the cbo, who we have heard from this week, is saving -- saying that there is not this type of saving that the administration says there is. but preventive measures, other

types of things, you say that those benefits will help make the cost cheaper, but if not, we are going to tax the wealthy? >> all i am saying is we may not ever need to pull the trigger, but you cannot write the bill without it in there, because cbo will not include those savings. we have had triggers before and we did not need to pull them, and i hope we do not do so this time, but in order to meet these scoring requirements, that is what we need to do to write this bill. martha: i think a lot of people here that and say, if there is something congress can do that the cost me more money, they will probably do it. is that not fair? >> i will ask you to look at history.

we have never done it before, so why would we do it now? it is the same kind of reason we have had these types of debate before. there is nothing wrong with having a safety valve in legislation. we hope we never have to go to that safety valve, but what is wrong with putting it there? martha: i would be remiss if i did not wish you a happy birthday. thank you. trace: on the meantime, -- in the meantime, we will also be speaking to a republican member of the house committee who delayed the markup of this bill. and he is on the ballot for city council in detroit. the candidate has one heck of a record, and it is not just in politics. >> my name is walter james hart.

my platform is rehabilitation, revitalization. trace: rehabilitation could be something he knows about. how his last job ended him in jail. gecko vo: geico's the third-largest car insurance company in the nation. but, it's not like we're kicking back, now, havin' a cuppa tea. gecko vo: takes lots of sweat to become that big. gecko vo: 'course, geckos don't literally sweat... it's just not our thing... gecko vo: ...but i do work hard, mind you. gecko vo: first rule of "hard work equals success." gecko vo: that's why geico is consistently rated excellent or better in terms of financial strength. gecko vo: second rule: "don't steal a coworker's egg salad, 'specially if it's marked "the gecko." come on people.

martha: a busy day for the senate judiciary committee. there are delaying their boat on sonia sotomayor for one week

amid reductions from the republican members. in the middle box, the space shuttle crew using the robotic arm to move their experiment to the new japanese lab. in a couple of minutes, the crew will be taking questions via twitter and youtube. in the bottom box, there has been more than 700 deaths from the swine flu since the outbreak began. this is something that we need to be aware of. trace: and here is what the president said a few minutes ago about the health care overhaul were formed -- reform. >> health care costs are the biggest driver of our deficit, no disputing that. so i am looking forward to meeting with members of congress to help bring down costs, expand coverage, and provide more

choice. trace: let me bring in a republican congressmen from arizona -- congressman from arizona. when you saw the bill, what did you think? >> i think there are a number of conservative democrats to recognize the current bill does not control costs. the head of the cbo, democratic- elected, said that it would increase the burden on the budget. those democrats are saying that the bill does not work and we want changes. trace: but those democrats are saying wait a minute, the cbo is not including other things. if we do other things, it will come allen in the wash. >> when was the last time we enacted a government program and

years down the road cost less than what we were originally told? i do not remember one government program like that. trace: americans are concerned about the fact that we just had a representative cliburn say he does not want to tax the rich, but he wants a trigger mechanism, in case he needs to tax the rich. the system would pay for itself, like stimulus. we have stimulus months ago, and unemployment would only be 8%. why should america trust these numbers? >> they should and. i just heard mr. cliburn say that he wanted this trigger in their. in the bill, there is nothing about a trigger. it will kick in. there is an escalation that will go higher if the costs keep on going up.

on an issue as important as this, i do not think the american people should trust politicians. they need to be able to see and read the bill and learn about it. right now is being rushed through so quickly, no american has the chance to do that. i hope congressional members meeting with the president asking to slow down. trace: what do you make of steny hoyer saying, august, not going to happen? >> last night in committee, we offered an amendment that said nothing would allow a federal employee to tell in medical practitioner how to practice medicine. that amendment was rejected by the democrats. every democrat voted against it. i do not want a federal employee, a bureaucrat, or otherwise, between me and my

doctor. i want a republican-like plan that put to perform in the hands of people and lets them make choices, and puts us in control, not washington. trace: thank you. looking from the big house to city hall. meet walter hart, a candidate for the twin city council. it is his first venture into politics, but he has quite a resonate, including being in prison for being a pimp. >> kidnapping? >> that was in a racketeering charge, yes. trace: he says he wants to get everything out in the open, including a lengthy rap sheet. he is also a deadbeat father with over $135,000 in unpaid child support.

he says that he was once a criminal but is not reformed. his nickname is pepaw, and he even cut off his hair, but is the minnesota gov. ready for prime time? he has a big event coming up. ♪ well i was shopping for a new car, ♪ ♪ which one's me - a cool convertible or an suv? ♪ ♪ too bad i didn't know my credit was whack ♪ ♪ 'cause now i'm driving off the lot in a used sub-compact. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free credit report dot com, baby. ♪ ♪ saw their ads on my tv ♪ thought about going but was too lazy ♪ ♪ now instead of looking fly and rollin' phat ♪ ♪ my legs are sticking to the vinyl ♪ ♪ and my posse's getting laughed at. ♪ ♪ f-r-e-e, that spells free- credit report dot com, baby. ♪

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trace: robert byrd, the longest serving senator in history, returns to the senate after spending a week in the hospital. he cast his first vote on an amendment after returning. in the middle box, hillary clinton is in bangkok where she

expressed concern about reports of military cooperation between north korea and meehan r -- myanmar. martha: if you do not know his name, you will know it soon. 10 pawlenty. the governor of minnesota. -- tim pawlenty. he is a two-term governor already announcing that he will not run next year, leaving his scandal wide open for other things, including potentially a national campaign. he will be speaking and the republican national committee this summer. joining me now is tucker carlson

and a democratic pollster. tucker, you do not think that he has the charisma to go all the way? >> he needs to change his story line. it is -- he is a great person, and if he can show attraction from minnesota, that would be great. he just needs to create a narrative about himself. if you google him, the first results are some amusing, embarrassing remarks that he made about his wife. we need to sum him up in one sentence, and he needs to start telling that story this summer. martha: that is probably an interesting exercise for most politicians. when you look yourself up, what comes up first? let us take a look at some of these poll numbers.

mitt romney vs. barack obama, and they are even. what do you think of that, bernard? >> obama's poll numbers were in the stratosphere, and they were going to come down once the rubber hits the road. the american people are very impatient. we have a bad economy, we are working on health care, we have a two-front war. i am not too surprised. i think it is a bit optimistic on the republican side, but one thing we know about barack obama is he is an extraordinary campaigner. martha: we just heard him talk about health care, and i do not want to talk about that right now, but how is he doing as a communicator? >> i would give him a b plus.

i think the administration probably underestimated how hard health care would be. if i had to do it from the beginning, i would have had communications to keep a lead -- key elites earlier, but we did get the endorsement of the ama, which is huge. martha: take a look at this poll. as a democrat, who scares you more, sarah palin, tim pawlenty? >> as we learned last time around, no one is outside the possible consideration. who had heard of barack obama in 2005. i agree that pawlenty needs to create a narrative for himself, but of everyone being mentioned, i would have to say mitt romney.

martha: i think it is all about name recognition. tucker carlson spoke to someone like me who has quite a bit of name recognition. he spoke to jeb bush. this was such an interesting interview. what were your impressions of what he wants? >> first and foremost, he wants to build a business. he wants to go into financial security. he is interested in education reform. most people who say they aren't interested in education reform are not. i could hear his conversation that he had previous to our interview, and it is a genuine passion of his. i personally believe that he is keeping his options open politically, although he denies it. he ended on a high note in florida. if his name was not bush, she

would have been the nominee last time. i know there are people around him thinking, why not? martha: and he is a very smart man. it is interesting to listen to his take on the education. i encourage everyone to look at your interview. let me bring up a quotation from this. he takes subtle aim at a few republican competitors in this quotation. he really wants us to be focused on conservative ideas, not personalities. wouldn't you agree? >> yes, he is an intellectual.

for everyone who wrote off the bush family as anti-education, he is a big reader. at the very least, he may help revive the american -- republican party. i hope the party will be open to that. martha: and he might be smart to hang back at the moment -- for the moment. bernard, final thought? >> i think he will be a factor in this, whether in the center or on the sidelines. i was not aware that the republican party had a vision, so i will be listening carefully. if i had to give some advice to mitt romney, i would tell him to run for office, and then resign, and then announced that he is not running next year because that seems to be the strategy.

martha: we are going to come back and talk about the issue of health care later. trace: part of schwarzenegger has stepped in to say that the colony of seals are losing their habitat. they have been causing a stink after taking over parts of san diego. it is supposed to be a swimming area for kids. just when it seems that the seals would be forced out by a judge, the governor signed legislation last night that would give them a reprieve. this may irritate some in the area, but it will surely delight the tourists. >> i would rather see them then go swimming in the beach. any time you can show animals in the wild, in their natural habitat is wonderful. trace: the city had planned to spend $700,000 to scare away those seals.

now news conference is scheduled for later today. and a woman is brutally attacked in her home while she was sleeping, stabbed to death in what police describe as a random crime. >> i have to try to keep my daughter safe. trace: that was a town hall meeting. police are searching for a suspect, hoping to solve the crime, before he strikes again. inspired from around the country at red lobster. from the northeast, try our new maine lobster and crab bake, with garlic-roasted tender maine lobster, jumbo shrimp, scallops, and a full half-pound of snow crab legs. or from the south, try our new orleans... wood-grilled shrimp jambalaya, simmered with creole seasonings. taste these regional dishes for a limited time. at red lobster. if your kids can go onward and upward, no matter what.

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trace: we have a brand new information on three big stories. first to capitol hill. shannon bream is watching health care reform. >> we heard the president pushed for getting health care reform done now, but the biggest opposition right now comes from within his own party, the blue dog democrats. so far, they are not willing to

go for this massive program with a massive price tag. a few of them are meeting at the white house now. we will have to see if this jump-start to the process again. trace: there is breaking news at the pentagon on the future of the f-22 fighter jets. >> the senate just voted by 58- 42 strip $2 billion to build seven additional fighter jets from the defense spending bill. those who support keeping the f- 22 line open will have a chance to fight again when the house takes up the bill tomorrow. trace: distracted while driving. malia and berg, the government study battle. >> three researchers at the ntsb put together some estimates in 2003 of how many fatalities and accidents have been the year

before because of cell phone use while driving. they wanted to alert states who were considering governing loss dealing with this -- laws dealing with this. some say the research was incomplete and inconclusive, and that is why it was not made public. trace: i want to go to south carolina. this is mark sanford. he is holding a news conference at the dmv talking about a federal id program. if he makes news, and he could -- he is known to do that -- martha: maybe he will be talking about his soul mate. but this is a serious story in washington, where a community of living in fear. a suspect broke into a house

before dawn on sunday, attacking two women while they were sleeping. the killer stabbed the victim to death. he seriously wounded the other. the surviving woman described the attacker as a black man in his late 20's, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, a thin mustache, and a thin but muscular build. neighbors are worried how to stop him before he strikes again. >> i feel like i might need to have extra security in my house. i have never felt like this before. martha: authorities are calling it one of the worst crimes they have seen. they're putting all their resources into catching this person. and joining me now is our fox affiliate from seattle. the police on the scene said

that this was one of the most horrific crimes they have seen in some time. >> we were speaking to some of the neighbors who were at the scene right after this happened. they were describing helping the woman who was in the street, helping her as she bled to death. it was difficult for many people to see. we know that they will be having a candlelight vigil for these victims. one woman died and her partner was badly hurt, and it looks like she is going to be ok, but certainly something that has scarred this community. police are concerned about this, too. we are in some pretty hot temperatures here in seattle. the suspect actually went into the home through an open window. police are concerned that a lot of people will be leaving their windows and doors open. they are asking people not to do that overnight, making sure that

they have everything closed up, and that they are being vigilant around the community. martha: what do the police believe right now? do they think this is a robbery gone bad? if any reason that he would have been after these two women? >> there are a few different theories. the first is that it is a random attack, which would make it tried before the community. this was a same-sex couple we are talking about here. there is a possibility this was a hate crime. there is an advocacy group that is working on this case with the police. police are working on those two theories right now to figure out what they have. they are looking for some kind of reason because they do not really know what is going on. martha: keep us updated. thank you. trace: you are about to see an

intergalactic collision so massive it left a hole the size of the planet earth in the service of the planet jupiter. the impact leaving in giant mark on the planet jupiter. that white mark could have been caused by a piece of ice or comment. it was first sighted by an amateur australian astronomer. martha: isn't that incredible? my daughter said, then that means something the size of earth can hit earth. trace: that is right. a horrifying scene caught on surveillance video. a man holds a gun -- holding a gun to a woman's neck. wait until who you here she is,

and what he does for a living. in cramped seats, crying kids, food that you hate? want to complain about when you fly, and but one man on a southwest flight was left in the world of pain. something attacked him, crawled up his leg. we will tell you what it was. quality and reliability...

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trace: there is a controversy in california involving a police man, his son, and the police department. it all began with a fender bender. the policemen goes inside the store, and it ends in a dramatic confrontation with officer drawing his gun on one of the people his son is accused of renting. rick leventhal has that. >> of course, there are always two sides to this story. what happened before makes it more complicated. the tape appears to show the police officer confronting a 20- year-old and two of her friends, grabbing her by the neck and drawing his weapon. he got those young men to kneel on the floor and then exchanged

words with them. 20 minutes earlier, the young man had been in a minor accident with the group, rending the woman's car and then leaving the scene. the two of them spotted the car at the gas station, and that is when the confrontation began. trace: now this young woman is suing? >> it is likely she will file a lawsuit. what we have learned is the officer admitted to using bad judgment and said that he was responding to reports that the group had attacked his son, and that one of them could have been armed. the young man said that when he rented the girls car, four people got out, began shouting and kicking his car. one of them also threatened that he had a weapon under his shirt. it turned out one of them did have a handgun in the glove box,

but so did lopez jr. apparently none of them pulled down their weapons. martha: hollywood for coming to life -- horror coming to live on an airplane. this happened aboard a southwest airlines flight. a scorpion dropped down from the overhead compartment, treating one end -- one passenger to his stinger. >> i felt ed kroll of my leg, and that is when i felt it. martha: soon after the attack, he found some baby scorpion's next to his luggage. his son was sitting close by watching the entire incident.

>> you could see everything. it was amazing. martha: he is with me now on the telephone. what was your reaction when you realized a scorpion had landed on your leg? >> first of all, i did not know what it was until it stung me. the funny thing is i had been stung by one not long ago, so i knew what it felt like. i did not want anyone to panic, so i looked for the scorpion on the floor and then killed it. martha: i do not know how someone get stung by a scorpion twice in a short period of time, i will leave that to you, but what does it feel like? >> it feels like getting stung

by about 30 b.c. at the same time in one area. martha: can someone die from this? >> and adult like myself, probably not. a young child, perhaps it could be fatal. there was a young lady and a baby in front of us, so in a way, i was glad that i was stunned, first because i had experienced it, and having experienced it before, someone may have peaked out more than i did. martha: what did the airline say about why there are scorpions on their plan? >> had no reason. arizona and nevada are homes for these critters. it could have been picked up by grounds people coming on the airplane. personally, there were stories

that it was coming out of my back, my back was a tough, so that is unlikely. could it have happened? perhaps, but not likely. martha: thank you. two scorpion stings is plenty. trace: i was trying to have someone come up behind you and scare you all day. the battle over health-care reform is red hot. one of the biggest problems in the country is obesity. can you guess how much money is spent each year on treating obesity-related illnesses? it is mind-boggling and is also our must see fact of the day. our must see fact of the day.

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martha: they have a press conference tomorrow night. robert gibbs is about to step to the podium for right now, and we will keep an eye on that. cleanup is underway in the denver area after severe storms rolled through. 29,000 homes are still without electricity. this man in the bottom box has had a lot of controversy around him recently. ben bernanke is testifying today that the fed will be able to relive its extraordinary economic stimulus and prevent a flare up. it is a difficult task that he is trying to explain right now. trace: be heard from the president again today on the need for health care reform, but will his plan really make

americans hold dear? we ask you how much money it costs to treat obesity-related illnesses. it is our fact of the day. more than $300 billion spent per year treating problems associated with obesity. with me now is the author of the seven-day energy surge. i am reading here that those of us who were born in the year 2000, one-third of them will have tied to diabetes simply because they are overweight? >> exactly. just so you know, when you look at that number, the population of african-americans and hispanics, over 52%. it is even more skewed in that direction. trace: so what ever health care plan comes out, it is not going to make us all here, it is all

about personal responsibility. you cannot have the government say that you cannot eat that fast food, it is up to us. >> i hate the fact that the were prevented is not being used with health care. we have demonstrated as americans that 60% of us are overweight, one-third of us are obese, and by the year 2016, one study has shown 70% of our population could be overweight. we need to be spending our money on educating people how to prevent this. the best people to educate right now are our doctors. research shows that you have a much higher probability of falling a doctor's orders. trace: but doctors do not study foodstuffs. they do not know much about eating. when it comes to die and that kind of stuff, they do not really know what they're doing. >> look at cholesterol.

statins are the number one prescribed drug in the world. instead of telling indication that you need to look at your eating, not exercise, and sleeping patterns, after they tried all of these things, medication can be the last resort. there are many steps that we should be learning to do and that is part of the message that i have been trying to introduce to this industry. trace: it is a big problem. >> i will tell you, one thing that i hate is liquid calories. it is a big problem. martha: we have been showing you unbelievable video of people rescuing a little boy out of the a fiery car. now we are learning who those

people were. there is a news conference coming up. we are going to get some information on how he is doing now. also, it is always tough for teenagers to find jobs, especially in a recession. now american teenagers working along the mexican border are doing something very dangerous and becoming drug smugglers. it is a potentially deadly career choice, and it is on the rise.

martha: you are looking at the children's hospital in michigan. trace: we are waiting for the father of the boy who was rescued. they are about to go out to the podium. i want to bring up the video. the mother crashed and there were two kid andtrapped in the car. the community effort was unbelievable, actually busting open the windows to get inside to rescue these kids trapped. one of the kids had been burned by the time they arrived, they brought the child out, and they extinguished the fire.

now we are not about to hear from the father. -- we are about to hear from the father. as soon as it starts, we will bring it to you. martha: in the meantime, president obama insisted that we are closer than ever to health care reform. he is running into obstacles, though, in congress, and the president is making a new appeal to day before meeting with blue dog democrats. he is also speaking to the press. what i meant to say is that he is pressing for their support. we will hear from him tomorrow at the briefing he will be giving. brit hume is with me now. there seems to be a concerted effort here by the white house to have him be out there every

day. tamara he will be doing an open briefing with the press. how do you think they are doing? >> i think they are doing the best they can. the president remains, despite the fact that his overall ratings have declined somewhat, remains to be highly popular. the handling of this particular issue has made him declined slightly, but more people are approving of it. i am sure they will just spend what they can of his political capital in an effort to get congress to act and generate public support. you see the president taft -- attacking republicans for being naysayers on this, but you will notice that the people he is meeting with our conservative democrats in the house who are concerned about the cost of this. this goes back to the burden

that president obama will be carrying throughout much of his term in office, which is the staggering cost of the stimulus program that has not yet succeeded in stimulating the economy but has blown a new hole in the budget, leaving the president with the dilemma of how you go about paying the severe up front cost of turning our health-care system into something entirely different. martha: i wonder if they look back and ask, why did we take on health care now? once they are in there, you have made that commitment on health care, you need to work it out. the toughest sell on this now is the american people do not be buying the fact that they can do this by cutting costs. they know that it is going to cost more, at least that is the perception. >> i think you are right about

that but the reason the administration wanted to do this was because the stars had aligned on them for this. you had an enormously popular new president and change was expected. at the same time you had strong majorities of his party in the house and senate. the idea took hold and you can see why, if not now, and then when? this was the best opportunity they would have to do this thing, which had been a central piece of the democratic party for a long time. the problem is, while it hit in what appeared to be good political times in washington, it was bad economic times, which made the costs even greater. that was aggravated by the fact that so much money was spent in

the stimulus program. now the president is under the burden of figuring out a feasible way to pay for it all. that is the issue that the democrats are wrestling with now. how do you pay for it? some say that you can do a bid by raising taxes on the rich, but i am not sure that there is enough money to do that. another way would be to tax the benefits that people like you and me and others who work for companies receive from their employers come but from which you are not taxed now. but the unions do not want that, and president obama has seemed reluctant to buck of them on any issue so far. martha: perhaps they could divide it in half and tackle some insurance issues now and get into the public option down the road. how much compromise are you expecting from them?

>> from years of experience in washington, that would be what you might expect would happen, get as much as you can and save the rest for later. so far the president had shown little willingness to do something modern. he seems to want to do something big. i have the sense that president obama has much more concern and interest about this than he did about the stimulus program. he sort of allowed congress to run that program. i do not know if it worked out politically well, but in this case, he cares more about this. this would be a signature achievement. recessions come and go, but this, on the other hand, would be a great signal achievement that would go down in history books attached to his name. if you do it piecemeal, and does

not add up to the same achievement. martha: thank you. always great to hear from you. trace: the taliban striking several government compounds in afghanistan today. a homicide bombers taking place in a coordinated attack. several were shot and killed before they could blow themselves up, but some managed to detonate them cells, killing six members of the afghan security force. we are live in afghanistan. why the sudden uptick in violence? >> one security analyst described this as perhaps one of the best organized attacks by the taliban. at 11:00 this morning, taliban insurgents, some dressed as women, had multiple government buildings here in two different cities. 14 people were killed in total,

and many more injured. today's attack demonstrates just how sophisticated the taliban have become in their attacks in recent months, using multiple people in different ways. they hit hard targets, government buildings that are well protected, including one governor's compound and the building used by the intelligence service here. the goal was to disrupt the elections that are happening in about one month. they are trying to show fear among the population, trying to say that the government cannot protect you. trace: thank you. martha: in a bit we will hear from the father of the boy who was burned in that car. if you look at the video, these people saved his life in a tremendous act of heroism. we will take you to the conference.

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trace: there is a news conference going on right now, but this is video from

milwaukee, wisconsin. one mother was driving her s.u.v. and a tree and rolled over. she was able to pass one child out of the window to firefighters, but while the car was burning, the community tries to rescue the child. the life of that child was saved, and today, moments ago, the father of that child spoke. >> hello. how are you doing? my name is james harper, i am dj's dad. i cannot express the gratitude that my wife and i have for the city of milwaukee. i want to thank the firefighters and brave citizens that help to get my son out of the vehicle.

especially in the brothers that got him elbow the vehicle. there were so many people at the scene and i wanted to express our gratitude. words cannot express how were info we are to the citizens of milwaukee. this is a wonderful place. they are in the best hospital here. i just want to thank the hospital staff and the citizens of milwaukee, and everyone. there are no words to express how grateful i am. i'm sorry, i am trying to hold it together. this is my little boy. i'm going to turn it over to the doctors, but i just want to thank everyone, including the

citizens of milwaukee, for helping us. angels all around us. i want to thank everybody. >> [inaudible] trace: that is the family. can we show the video again? after, the people who rescued this point, they could not break open the window. you've heard them say we could not get in. the fire was coming closer and they finally bust through, they had to cut the seat belt from the child and bring him out. it is pretty awful video. of all the stores that we had done of people walking by, ignoring people, this is the

exact opposite. what an heroic effort by those people. martha: i think they were on a trip, some out-of-towners'. i think they were coming up from tennessee, if what i read was correct. really, these are strangers coming to their aid. just an incredible story. i wish they would have given us more information on how the little boy is doing. trace: they are from tennessee. we are checking on that information. we know that stem cell research holds promise as for many serious illnesses, but impairment cost using cells from human embryos is also controversial. there is a brand new push to create stem cells from blood and skin instead. david lee miller is watching this.

how great is the potential for using adults themselves? >> one expert says potentially revolutionary. let me explain. this is ips, induced pluripotent stem cells. what really matters here it is ips may one day be able to save your life. this technology will have the capability, one day they believe, to help individuals with the genetic and acquired divvies -- diseases. this type of research would not present the type of more controversy associated with embryonic stem cell research. in other words, no controversy on how to fund it. they expect this technology is only now just going to pick up

speed. trace: i know that you are not going to go into the medical details, but could use of the finest and tell us how it works? >> well, i did tell 10th grade biology, but i will try. in individual has a medical problem, he will go to the doctor, and then a doctor can extract a sell from him. -- cell from him. then they will add some chemicals to that skin cells, and then those chemicals will transform into a stem cell. then they will reprogram that stem cell because they have a unique capability to transform themselves into other cells in the human body. and it could become a brain cell come along sell, heart muscle. then they would be able to transplant that newhouse, a healthy cell into the transplant

recipient's body. one other thing to note, this technology means that the cell is getting derived from the patient, which means that the chance for rejection is almost zero, as opposed to getting a stem cell from a donor. this is a very promising technology. trace: give us an idea of how soon we can expect people to get treated like this. >> the good news is, they are able to use this technology to develop new forms of medicine, but experts say that when it comes to treating patients, it could be years, perhaps decades off. one of the major obstacles to have to overcome is they have to find a way to make sure newly created cells does not create -- contain any genetic flaws. the last thing they want to do is introduce another problem to

the individual. they also need to find a delivery system, a way to transplant that cell. during a blood ailment is one thing, but treating parkinson's could be more difficult. many believe this could be the magic bullet, but it will be many years before anything happens. martha: pretty incredible. if you can recreate someone from their own blood, that is a promising area. trace: remember we said gov. mark sanford always makes news? he did. you will want to see what he said. it was nothing about what we went into, but we will have it for you.

martha: mexican drug smugglers playing a chess match with border agents, but recently they have recruited new people to carry on their dirty work. who are they now exploiting to deliver illegal drugs across the border? wait until you see this.

trace: it is a disturbing and dangerous trend, american teenagers recruited as drug smugglers. this week u.s. customs arresting five teenagers within 24 hours near san diego trying to smuggle marijuana and heroin. the drugs were strapped to their bodies, had been under baggy clothing. this is becoming much more common. by that drug cartels recruiting of our children to do their

dirty work, luring them with the promise of money and little risk. let me bring in a senior member of the heritage foundation who has prosecuted these types of cases. five kids in two days. how prevalent is this problem? >> it has been happening for a while. they are using these teenage americans ask te test mules befe they make their move. trace: are these kids making money, what is the risk for them? >> it is very popular to go to mexico for the day. many of these kids are not impoverished kids, regular middle america kids who want to go south of the border and get something to eat. i suspect the drug cartels are figuring out the one that they

can run with a couple hundred dollars, up some stuff to them, and deliver on the other side. trace: i have friends and family in the area, and they have the same question, how do the drug cartels get in touch with our kids? >> this is a supply and demand issue. cartels have their fingers in a lot of different things in tijuana. bars, restaurants, strip clubs, gaming industry. they are probably pretty good at figuring out who the kids are, who they can influence. if i was a parent, i would be saying, do not talk to strangers down there. stick with your friends, and do not take any bribes to take something back over the border.

me trace: and one of my fears would be, how much danger are these kids when they're in mexico? what if they get caught, what if they change their minds at the last minute? that is where the real danger is. >> you are right, and we have seen kids disappear in mexico. american girls who go across the border from texas to party. these kids are so far in over their head. they do not understand. teenagers make some pretty bad choices, but these dogs are out for money, and they will do what ever they can to get it. trace: thank you. martha: as promised, we want to bring you the comments from mark sanford. understandably, he is trying to get back to business. he says he wants to put

everything behind him. harris faulkner has the latest from gov. mark sanford. >> the first few minutes he talks about mandatory identification legislation as it pertains to homeland security, and how he plans to take an amendment over to senator lieberman who is fighting this identification thing. yongbyon out. -- yadda yadda. then someone asked him, do you think that the senator will take you seriously because of your recent scandal? >> i made a mistake, i apologize to about it, and i am moving forward. i think the people are as well. [applause] >> have you made a mistake in

your life? i am asking you. i think we all do. we have all acknowledged this has been painful, it has been what it is, but it is time to move on. that is what i intend to do. [applause] >> clearly, there are some supporters for him. the rest of the news conference was about that scandal. he wanted to talk about legislation, but they kept asking him about the scandal. you heard him school of one of the reporters. it will be interesting. martha: he does not want to talk about it, but he always and of talking about it. maybe he needs to get better at changing the subject.

interesting. thank you. in the meantime, president obama is now looking like an uphill battle to get health care reform passed. he is speaking about it pretty much every day, insisting there is no time for delay, and that flies in the face of what some are saying, we need to slow down and make sure that we do our due diligence. but there is a debate raging right now, and some of those involved are members of his own party. so will president obama be able to convince them to sign on the dotted line? we shall see.

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trace: we have brand new information on three stories. jennifer griffin at the pentagon following the future of the f-22 fighter jet.

>> it lives to fight another day, in spite of a vote from the sun at stripping nearly $2 billion in funding from a defense spending bill for seven more jets. the obama administration supported the amendment, but those who support keeping the fighter jets open will have another chance tomorrow when the house debates. trace: now to catherine herridge, six months after the president vowed to shut down gitmo, still nowhere to put those terror suspects. >> the administration says it will need another six months to work on to the detention policy, and another two more for detention. one source pointed out to me that the zero ultimately depend on what your definition of closed is. trace: now to mike emanuel at the white house.

the president meeting with blue dog democrats. >> the president predicting that lawmakers will get the job done, then meeting with conservative blue dog democrats. their concerns are spiraling costs and providing efficient health care. they're also worried about the speed of the process. trace: thank you. martha: president obama lashing out at critics of his health care reform plan, saying that he believes we are closer to ever them getting a reform plan. some in congress may disagree with that -- capital, i should say. so how it is the president handling this? 49% approve of his health-care

plan, that is down from a 57%. republicans spell an opportunity here. don fehr saying it is time to pull the plug on the current plan and go back. >> it is time to grab the bill. it is time to go back in a bipartisan way. martha: shannon bream is at capitol hill right now. how tough will be to sway these blue dog democrats? >> they are the key group because they have brought things to a grinding halt today. the house energy and commerce committee had to cancel its markup plan today basically because the blue dogs were not on board. a group of them were at the white house talking with the president. they have sent a letter that 40 of them signed on to to

democratic leaders saying that we are not going to sign onto something that is not deficit- neutral. this is where the cbo gives them some cover if they decide to vote against it. on friday they reported a $239 billion deficit attached to this plan over 10 years. that gives them cover to say i cannot go back to my constituents and say that i voted for this. also, many of them have the feeling that they were strong armed into voting for cap and trade not long ago. nancy pelosi expended a great deal of political capital to get those votes and they may not be willing to do it again. so far, they are digging in their heels. martha: let me bring back in the panel. tucker carlson is back with us. bernard whitman is a former paul storr for president clinton. how do you like those poll numbers?

-- pollster for president clinton. >> republicans have to come up with something else other than let's start from square one. martha: they do not want to do that. they want to fix the things wrong with the plan. for instance, insurance reform. they do not want people to lose the plan that they already have. many people do not believe the president when he says if they like their plan, they can keep it. >> it is the republicans that are causing the drop in popularity. the president remains extraordinarily popular but he has a tall order on monday. i think he will get it done, but what he needs to do is connect health care reform to overall economic reform. connect these issues together. if he can convince the american people --

martha: c., i do not think that is right. -- see, i do not think that is right. president obama has tried to sell this package that the reason we are in this economic problem is because of health care. i think some people dispute that as a central tenet of what is wrong with the economy. >> sure, that is a pretty big conceptual stretch. maybe the president can sell that connection, but it does not solve the problem. the problem is on capitol hill. democrats have overreached on this, and some conservative democrats recognize that. by the way, the idea that the average american supports a bill that no one in america nome -- fully understands does not mean very much. we know that it expand medicare, the most failed of all

government programs. we know it will cost more than the government initially thought. we also know it will it require higher taxes. and there is no assurance that it will stimulate the economy in any way. the stimulus package has not even than that. i think people are wary. republicans do not need to present an alternative they got a lot in 1994 just by opposing the clintons. i think the position they're taking now which is slow down, let us talk this through, -- martha: by doing nothing, maybe they are in a better position. they look at canada and other countries, and say, i am ok. >> the you know what we got by stalling health care reform in the 1990's cost millions in costs, and millions more uninsured. i think we are going to get a deal done. when it happens is not clear.

martha: so you are ok with your personal health insurance. let's say your company wants to push you onto the public program, would you be ok with that? >> but that is not going to happen. martha: would you be ok with that? >> there president obama's plan we will be able to keep the current plan. martha: do people believe this? >> of course not. if you need something of great value transported across the country. do you choose the post office or federal express? i am not saying the government is not good at anything, but with very complicated things like health care, and the government is not the answer. i am not saying that the government does not have a role in regulating in, but selling everything in four months is not realistic. >> i think in this case,

americans should absolutely listen to their doctors. the ama endorsed this plan, and that is the best that we can do. martha: i have asked everyone i know and i do not know anyone who believes this is a good idea. thank you both very much. always a pleasure to have you with us. trace: lot of people work from home, but what about living where you work? the major transportation hub where employees are cutting out the commute. remember that movie with tom hanks? the real-life version, next. aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself.

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simply call now and mention free month. call now or go to lifelock.com. ♪ trace: in the top box, one day after michael vick completed his dogfighting sentence, nfl commissioner roger goodell is keeping mum on whether he will be reinstated. he said he will rule on in in the near future, but would not define what that meant. in the middle box, george mitchell to parts for the middle east tonight -- departs for the middle east tonight. he is expected to deliver a speech in bahrain. and vice-president biden is in the ukraine, supporting their bid to join nato, on of russia

is not a fan. ever feel like you live at the office? at los angeles international airport, some employees are doing exactly that, and they do not mind. william la jeunesse is reporting from lax. why have airline workers chosen to live at the airport? >> welcome to the glamorous airline industry where the people who fly our plans, fix our engines, wake up to the smell of burned tires and gasoline overhead. this is an executive jet coming in right now. it gives you an idea of how close we are. this is a sign of the times. because of the downsizing of the airline industry, to keep their jobs, these guys have been moving, and chasing their job. that means either they have to commute from smaller places like

denver or dallas, where they used to be assigned, or they have to get a crash pad with some other people. or you could get an rv here and park at lax. trace: are there safety concerns here, william? >> yes and no. after that crash in buffalo where that woman was flying from seattle to newark -- that is dealing with pilot fatigue. these guys say that sleeping inside, they wake up pretty fresh, actually. you might say that is surprising because there is the approach, there is the tower. you have airplanes coming in every four minutes.

you can hear them landing, taking off. it is pretty bad, but here is the good news. you have a gated community, police 24/7, your neighbors already have clearance by airlines, and it is pretty safe, considering the neighborhood around it. lax is also the only airport in the country doing this. trace: of course, if you are a pilot, a landing plane to is like ambient noise. martha: shepard often comes into our show and just takes a look, cleaning up before his show. >> today, we will be hearing from best buy. then dropped the sport -- ben rough as burger, the quarterback of the pittsburgh steelers, i

think they want something. he has now been charged by a woman for sexual assault. he was served with the papers while on a golf outing. there are nine other people m mentionementioned. we will get into that. in addition, some of you may find this interesting. the democrat suicide -- i apologize, the liberal suicide march. david brooks says that liberals are walking themselves into their own suicide chamber by following the good work of 1993 and republicans who just killed themselves. he says, among other things, it was interesting to watch the republican party lose touch with america. then he goes on to tell how they

killed themselves, and how liberals are doing the same thing with health care. health care is our bread today with ben rothlisberger. martha: i am not sure what they have to do with each other, but we look forward to it. trace: and a bit of product placement, just to add a bit of duszest. a major push to prepare for the comeback of the swine flu. mass vaccinations to combat the virus. should you get a shot? remember the disaster it was the last time around? dr. manny alvarez gives us his diagnosis. . are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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martha: health experts are gearing up for a possible surge. they say the swine flu could be back in force this fall and they're preparing the largest mass immunization campaign since the polio vaccine was introduced years ago. we're with dr. manny alvarez. tell me something. is this going to work, this vaccine, and do we have the right amount? >> this is a specific amount. this flu season, you will get probably to flu shots. the regular flu, and swine flu. if you look at over 1 million cases so far, over 216 people have died, over 400 worldwide,

and once winter comes and the season starts up again and all of those kids go back to school, you are going to see a lot more cases, so you have to be very careful. trace: more than 500 people developed a vaccine-related disorder years ago, claims totaling $1.3 billion. >> a number one, this vaccine does not have any mercury. so -- i've been autistic son. do not worry about the few -- the flute shot this year. it does not have the mercury. when you talk about vaccination, the statistical percentage of people who get side effects is minimal compared to the possible amount of people who could die. 30,000 people die of the regular flu. if you add in the swine flu, you

will see that percentage to wake up and you are talking about hundreds of thousands that will end up in hospital. martha: my kids were exposed to it in school. does that build immunity? >> you can go to our website. if you have a pregnant condition or any chronic positions, you have to get these flu shots in the wintertime. trace: go to foxnews.com. i am going to give you a shot here. this is foxnews.com/health. click on dr. manny alvarez, and

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martha: thank you for being here with us today. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- shepard: breaking developments in the bitter fight over health care as the president announces the trillion dollar reform is closer than before. critics say that it is falling apart. we will break down the war of words. coming up, what he is accused of doing, and how he is responding. x